| Carro Veloce CV.33 |
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| Carro Veloce |
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- "They are small and cute, perfect for a flower vase"
- ―Hana
The Carro Veloce CV.33 (designated as L3/33 in 1938) was an Italian tankette. It saw widespread use by the Italian Army during WWII.
Background
The Carro Veloce (literary an Italian word for fast car)was designed in the first half of the 1930, the period when the tankette concept was at its peak; and it was directly derived from the British Carden-Loyd tankette, it was thought that the idea of a small, fast and nimble armored vehicle was very suitable for a country like Italy, whose borders follow the Alps.
The first mass-produced version was introduced in 1933, with a 6.5 mm machine gun, later supplanted by the more common variants, with either twin Fiat Mod. 14/35 or twin Breda 38 machine guns. In 1935, a new model with some minor upgrades was accepted for production as the CV.35 (designated as L3/35 after 1938). In 1937, a further upgraded version (sporting enhanced torsion bar suspensions and a single 13.2 mm machine gun) was evaluated, but it wasn't authorized until 1941 as the L3/38.
In the Italian army, it was assigned to tank and cavalry units. The CV.33 made its Baptism of Fire when sent in Ethiopia during the Second Italo–Abyssinian War, they saw fire during the Spanish Civil War from February-March 1937 to March 1939 and during the Invasion of Albania in April 1939 which was more considered as a large scale training. The tankettes began showed their limits and lived a hard time in France and in Greece where they were used to slow down Greeks troops advance, in Eastern Africa on all tankettes battalions present on July 1940 all were destroyed by the Wavell's counter-offensive on December 1940, they also took part in the Cyrenaica reconquest alongside heavier tanks and ultimately they took part to the Invasion of USSR in August 1941 but due to harsh climatic conditions and logistic problems they were either abandoned or repatriated in July 1942.
t proved to be completely unsuitable for tank warfare when facing modern tanks like the Soviet BT tanks, British Crusaders, American M3... as it didn't have neither the firepower nor the armor to face them. As soon as more adequate designs (like the M13/40) became available, the CV.33 was relegated to secondary duties like anti-partisan and surveillance patrols.
In Girls Und Panzer
Anime
Anzio Girls High School has many Carro Veloce CV.33 tankettes, of the second series (recognizable from the twin Fiat machine-gun mounting) given that they are pretty much amongst the least effective tanks used in the Tournament (with even Ooarai Girls Academy's underwhelming Type 89B outperforming them), it can be concluded that their use stems from Anzio's relative poverty, which precludes the purchase of more capable models.
During the quarter-final match against Ooarai, Anzio fielded six tankettes under the command of Pepperoni, they are tasked to execute "Operation Maccaroni" (planting decoys to lure Ooarai to move forward, allowing Anzio to flank and surround their tanks) and being one of its attack wings. They were spotted and pursued by the Duck Team's Type 89B, in which, although they proved unable to even damage their opponent, the tankettes showcased a surprising degree of agility and resilience, being able to rotate 180° its hull quickly to counterattack while driving backward, and able to survive ricochets from Type 89B's shell and resume the fight, however once Duck Team began aiming at their weak spots, the tankettes were easily disabled, proving vulnerable even to a rather underwhelming opponent.
Ribbon Warrior
Anchovy is seen using them in Tankathlon first against Shizuka and her Type 97 Tankette, due to their non-existent anti-tank abilities several are taken out by Shizuka and later by Jajka who interrupts the match. Anzio tried to assist Tategoto High School in a match against Bonple High School where Pepperoni & Carpaccio attempted to bust Jajka's tank in CV.33 for revenge but they were shot down by Uszka before getting close to Jajka.
Anzio's second match is against Tategoto High School supported by Shizuka. Some tankettes destroyed Ha-Gos and the Te-Ke while others were destroyed but Tategoto's fate was sealed once Anzio show its trump card, a CV.33 equipped with a 20mm AT Rifles that bring chaos on Tategoto.
During the Cauldron tournament in the seventh match of the first round against Katyusha Volunteer Army, Anzio Girls High School fielded at least five tankettes. They were used the same way as against Tategoto, harassing KVA girls, with cardbox representation of Nonna and a puppet of Katyusha, to lead them into the kill zone to annihilate them with the AT Rifles equipped CV.33s.
Gekkan Senshado Magazine
Yogurt Academy fielded two CV.33 tankettes during the tournament first round match against Waffle Academy. Their role during the battle is unknown.
Yogurt fielded again their two CV.33 in the quarter-finals match against St. Gloriana Girls College. Their role during the battle is unknown but they were likely destroyed during the battle at the top of the hill.
Anzio Girls High School fielded seven CV.33 tankettes during the tournament first round match against Maginot Girls' Academy. During the match they harassed Maginot's main to force them to break formation, Maginot took the bait launched all their tanks at the tankettes pursuit leaving their flag tank at the mercy of the Semoventes.
Blue Division High School owns an unknown number of CV.35 tankettes.
Trivia
- Despite being classified as tankette, the CV.33 still managed to enter Sensha-dō, while it could be more successful at Tankathlon.
- Anzio High School used the CV.33 II serie (Mod. 1934) with two Fiat Mod. 14/35 8mm machine-guns. The original CV.33 have only one Fiat Mod 14 6,5 mm machine-gun.
- In Ribbon Warrior debuts the better armed version of the CV.33, the one fitted with a Solothurn S-18/1000 Anti-tank rifle (IRL a field modification in Libya in 1940), namely the version with the rifle fitted on the outside (another with the Solothurn replacing the two MGs is known); while not legal per Sensha-dō rules, this significantly improves its performance in Tankathlon.
More Information about the Carro Veloce CV.33
Gallery
- Main article: Carro Veloce CV.33/Gallery
| Tanks ☰ | ||
|---|---|---|
| Light Tanks and Tankettes |  7TP •  AMR-35 •  BT-42 •  Crusader •  CV.33 • FT-17 • Harry Hopkins •  M22 Locust • M24 Chaffee • Mark VI •  Panzer II •  Panzer 38(t) • R35 •  T-60 • T-70 • Tetrarch • TK Tankette •  Type 2 Ka-Mi • Type 94 Tankette • Type 95 Ha-Go • Type 97 Te-Ke
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| Medium Tanks | Centurion • M3 Lee • M4 Sherman • M13/40 • Matilda II • P26/40 • Panzer III • Panzer IV • Panzer V "Panther" •  Sentinel • SOMUA S35 • T-34 • T-44 • Type 89B • Type 3 Chi-Nu • Type 97 Chi-Ha
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| Heavy Tanks | ARL 44 • B1 Bis • Black Prince • Churchill • IS-2 • KV-1 • KV-2 • M26 Pershing • Mark IV • Neubaufahrzeug • Panzer VI "Tiger" • Panzer VI Ausf. B "Tiger II" • Panzer VIII "Maus" • VK45.01 Porsche Tiger
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| Tank Destroyers | Elefant • Hetzer • ISU-152 • Jagdpanzer IV • Jagdpanther • Jagdtiger •  Mareșal • Semovente da 75/18 • StuG III • T28 Super-Heavy Tank
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| Self-Propelled Artillery | Karl-Gerät 040
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| Main Battle Tank | Type 10
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